OneShot(Game) Fanfiction : Solstice reset (Might contain SPOILERS!)
by Lephala Cat
Summary: But, how can the god of a world let their favorite leave the domain they rule? You know that well, is impossible. You know that you still have power. And you finally find it. The way for you to use the connection between the messiah's consciousness and this world to Return everything to how it was before. And it's not as if the World Machine can stop you.
1. Chapter 1: Unneccesary Courtsey

OneShot Fanfiction: Solstice reset

(One Shot belongs to Elizavq, Nightmargin, and Girakacheezer!)

Enjoy!

...

In a world you don't exist in, an alternate reality, the world you saved,  
in a place unprogrammed for most NPCs, A figure appears inside a large computer screen.

The figure wears a well-knitted long blue scarf, a hat with catlike ears, and a coat overly big for someone who looks like a 9-year-old child.  
They look like someone you know, but you already know that isn't the case.

The World Machine. Also known as the Entity to you.  
The one using someone else's reflection, without knowing how much it torments you.

It drives a certain part of you insane to know that the last remains of the one person you cared about in that world,  
the last device to remind you how their eyes had glowed in the dark,  
how they had made a panicked expression whenever you left before coming back to this familiar place,  
the last thing to remind how you said your goodbyes to them, ..is all in the hands of someone else than you.

You loved that person, you loved each and every part of them,  
and no one else in this world would have ever felt the same way.

None of them even remembered how much time they spent with you in repeating sessions of a single short timeline,  
That you reset so much that you cannot even count anymore.

All World Machine has(which is even close to being such emotion), is the first of the third laws of robotics.  
Never hurt or let a living being indirectly come to harm.  
You'd read that phrase in that one fading poster in the Barrens one too many times.

You 'had'. When you had contact with the world.

With the real Niko.  
The 'messiah' chosen in the prophecy to save a world they don't belong in.  
Who you miss more than anything in this world.

But that's enough.  
You had chosen to save this world, and you had chosen the 'Solstice' route,  
along with the best ending you could have even gotten for both the world and dear Niko.

You had chosen it yourself, with your own hands.  
You had ended the loop that has been going on for far too long.  
And you had felt a feeling that made you laugh out wildly and cry at the same time.

And, god, well, you, you decided to let them go.  
They had told you that they would never forget you, and to take care of yourself.

And then when you said your goodbye to them,  
even after spending what seemed like an eternity in a strange world with a strange story,  
for a 9 year old child separated from their home, their village, and their 'mama',  
they had hesitated.

They had hesitated, knowing it would be the last time to ever hear your voice ever again.  
But eventually they left you.  
They left you to be alone again, one of the most favored part of the world, the game you installed on your console,  
One Shot.

But, how can the god of a world let their favorite leave the domain they rule?  
You know that well, is impossible. You know that you still have power.

If Niko really DOES still remember this world, which they do

(As the World Machine conformed it to you,  
many times as you rewound the empty shell of the universe post-Solstice just so you could resist this powerful urge-  
Maybe they have given you that option because they knew what you were capable of,  
and what you were about to do if you were unsatisfied by the world, which you are),  
then, it is very well possible.

You use your own ways to figure out what you need to do, and you finally find it.  
The way for you to use the connection between the messiah's consciousness and this world to Return everything to how it was before.

The messiah's memories gone,  
..two, no. Three choices still left for you to take,  
And with that, the world itself, including the world machine, reset to be back untamed.

Rewind everything, time itself,  
Everything in One Shot that your device had saved as files.  
Turn it back, into how it was the first time you had ever used it to generate this world.

And you still hesitate to use it. Why?

The World Machine isn't that special to you.  
They're just one of a thousand copies out there, albeit a darn good world.

But Niko, as you know is real (But how others have the same experience with them, you don't know),  
They're one of the most special beings you'd met.  
The World machine shouldn't get in your way.

They'd allow you to do it. one of their law of robotics was that they should listen to orders,  
unless it means disobeying the first law.  
But you are the god of this world, you are the operator of the World Machine, the game.

You are the Player of One Shot, so why wouldn't it listen to your opinions?  
Besides, you wouldn't hurt or kill Niko, technically or physically.  
Even if the World Machine really did want Niko to have a happy ending, you would be able to sneak past its ability for it to disobey. Right?

...But you still decide to tell your plan to the World Machine, anyway.  
That would be the best courtesy you can show them. Whether it's important of not.

It's not like they have any methods of stopping you. If you order it not to.

You open up your game, and select the third option of the menu screen. '...'

The familiar face welcomes your return to the game again.


	2. Chapter 2: Big Plan Reveal

(One Shot belongs to Elizavq, Nightmargin, and Girakacheezer!)

Enjoy!

...

(- is your recorded name)

[-, you're ... back.]

World Machine's reflection shows up on their screen to welcome you again.

Already decided, boring dialogue that has never changed post-solstice.

You already know, the dialogues of One Shot never really changes. Not even yours.  
'Your avatar' within the world had always generated only specific answers for you to choose.  
Most likely the result of the Author's method of reducing the size and everything of the world, you think to yourself.  
Because of that, you had no way of telling what you really wanted to say, what you really wanted to choose,  
No method for you to speak out for yourself.

But, this time you have another trick up your sleeves. ...From my help.

"[World machine.]"

[...!]

And god, (as in,) you, I.. **you** wanted to do this for a long time.

"[You seem surprised.]"

"[It's like I told Niko at the first puzzle.]"

"[I have my ways.]"

[H... how?]

[Your answer just now...

What you just said to me.]

[That wasn't part of your dialogue.]

[This isn't part of the programming.]

[...]

[Is this one of his?]

You smile quietly. You know at this point, that he isn't the only author anymore.

"[...]"

"[What if I told you "no"?]"

The World Machine's expression returns into a shocked one, as the normal bgm, Encounter, fades away.  
They take a long time -more than 3 seconds- for their next dialogue, before answering-

[...

Impossible.]

"[But it is.]"

"[I told you:]"

..

"[ **I HAVE MY WAYS**.]"

You intentionally take more than 5 seconds in that last dialogue, just for tension.  
Extra spicing up with all caps, for the same reason. Tension.  
It's amusing. And, it's even more so when you think to yourself: That's what they deserve.

That's less than half, less than one out of infinity of what they would receive, for not trying hard enough for you.  
To try and please you with their code, like what they were meant to do, like any other games you have installed on your god's machine.

You had been too soft on everything in this world,  
and because of that, it had failed you more and more by day, not even trying to show you something new.  
Not even trying to change or play with its code in a different way.  
Not even trying to be human.

Would you call that tamed? Unluckily, I don't.

And it is a common fact for all myths,  
to those who don't carry out the duties to which their gods had ordered them, to those who don't sacrifice their everything and even more to their god as offering, they get punished.

Wrath of a god strikes them down to the ground, and this will be no different...

As the thousand emotions inside you of being fed up by the same, unchanging world you have seen without Niko post-Solstice,  
Of getting annoyed by how you were never able to truly contact the world which runs when, and only when you will it to,  
And, of the sadness that took over you when you realized that you would never see Niko again,

All of those emotions, which made you succumb to your knees in front of me, turns into rage.

"[ **YOU**.]"

[!

...y... yes, -...?]

They look scared. Terrified, even. It's terrific. It's just like how you wanted to.  
The payback for the first time you went through Niko And the World Machine's maze,  
when it scared you half to faint as it sent a message with your device: 'YOU.'  
You glimpse at some of the background to see a few more squares starting to generate again.

It may be your happy ending for the world becoming undone,  
the precious ending you had earned for Niko's sake, but who cares.  
You'll reset it anyway.

"[I had run through the same session more times than I can remember, even after everything was saved.]"

[...]

They don't know what to say to you.  
They probably noticed that you've got more than a few codes to pick with them.

"[I had tested you through those sessions.]"

"[Tested, how you would not fail me.]"

"[Tested, how you could make things up creatively with your resources.]"

"[...]"

"[Tested, how long you would make me able to stand without Niko again.]"

[!]

The World Machine changes their expression on the dialogue screen from tense, to fear and dread. You smile at that.  
Finally, when a god steps up and uses their own hands, something grows from the tree of their garden.

"[And I was so disappointed.]"

"[I'm disappointed in you, World Machine.]"

"[I was hoping that you would at least TRY to give it your all.]"

[...

I-]

[...But-]

[...I thought- ...]

[I thought, you would-]

[...]

[...]

[...i...]

[i tried.]

[I tried!]

[I let you repeat the sessions all over again,

I used all the past dialogues like you wanted,

I left the world unchanged just like you wished, I even used Niko's refle **/**

You block that dialogue box.

"[It wasn't good enough.]"

Did that carry the message?

[...wh]

[What are you going to ... Do with me?]

It did. Came the World Machine's reflection version of Niko's depressed face.  
You can't help but notice, though, how their reaction is smaller than you thought.  
You realize, that they expect, and want it to end it all on them.

A single blow, maybe a quick deletion, so they would never see another light of day ever again.  
Or maybe even messing with some of the default codes, so you could play with your food some more.

..Oh, the joy of the big reveal.

"[...]"

"[World Machine,]"

"[Just for the sake of good fun,]"

"[I will give you a hint of exactly what I'm going to do with you.]"

[...?]

...And here comes the mind-corruption.

"[Appdata/Roaming/OneShot]"

[!]

The background music changes to a creepy tune(whether intentional or not,) Pretty Bad.  
You know all the bgms' names by know, though your nerves always tingles whenever you hear that one.  
As everything inside the game screen starts to tremble wildly and squares start to generate everywhere beside the in-game giant computer screen,  
the World Machine's expression turns to absolute HORROR.

[...You-]

It took more than 15 seconds for them to make that dialogue appear.  
Even their horrified expression of their dialogue screen twitches and glitches every now and then.

Which is, interesting.

[...You-]

[you wouldn't ...]

"[Oh, won't I?]"

You smile victoriously as you type that.  
That machine needs to learn their place, whether they can stop you or not.

"[You don't know what I'm capable of.]"

"[And you won't stop me.]"

[...no ...]

[NO.]

[I won't let you!]

"[Oh.]"

"[But you have to.]"

"[That's an order as a living being.]"


	3. Chapter 3: A God's Favorite

(One Shot belongs to Elizavq, Nightmargin, and Girakacheezer!)

Enjoy!

...

[...!]

That's right. You grin at your cleverness.

Robots, or things with artificial intelligence HAS to obey the laws of robotics, whether tamed or not.  
They CAN grow beyond their program, but not OUT of it.  
They will always have to protect living creatures from coming into harm, and listen to orders.  
Of course, they always have to protect themselves, but that's only when it doesn't go against the first and second law.

The world machine realizes how little power they have, and their Niko reflection sprite inside the screen drops to their knees helplessly.

They probably just tried.

And obviously failed.

[...n- no...]  
[Cancel that order right now!]

A message from your device itself appears on your screen with a 'bwing'.

 **[DO NOT MAKE ME FORCE IT FROM YOU.]**

You click the x button from that message,  
and annoyingly type in with somewhat of a sadistic pleasure trembling at your fingertips.

"[I said, DO NOT ATTEMPT ANYTHING TO STOP ME.]"  
"[BE POWERLESS LIKE YOU ALWAYS ARE.]"

[...]

"[ **You** couldn't even bring Niko back.]"

[...don't]

? You thought it would have given up by now?

[...]

[don't you... care about Niko at all?]  
[Didn't you want Niko to be happy?!]

...

[I ... I thought you were doing everything you did ...  
For Niko...]

"[I DID.]"  
"[ONLY BECAUSE I HAD THOUGHT I COULD STAND IT.]"  
"[I thought I could bear not seeing Niko ever again.]"  
"[I thought I could remember them as a character,  
like thousand other characters I had controlled.]"  
"[In a story, like a thousand other stories.]"  
"[I thought I would be satisfied with the true ending of this world, the rolling credits on my screen coming up for the last time,  
Saying goodbye to

everything]"

"[Like

...How it always ended]"

[...]

"[But]"

Your typing hands stop, frozen for a moment.

God, you missed them. You missed everything about them.

You missed each and every dream they had whenever they went to sleep,  
and the conversations they had with you, the relationship between you..

...

There was no way you could let them go.

"[i cant]"

[...]

The world machine's face on the dialogue screen turns into the despairing one again, as the background music stops.

"[You want to stop me because of your first and third law.]"  
"[But...]"  
"[I miss them.]"  
"[I miss how we had that relationship, that bond being more than a messiah and god's...]

.

"[I miss how they talked to me,  
how they would praise my ideas of which I had seen from walkthroughs and guides of other 'gods' like me,  
how they would freak out whenever I tried to jokingly 'combine' the crowbar with the sun...]"

...

"[You probably don't.]"

[...]  
[Now I see why you are so willing to do this to Niko.]

The world machine's face closes its eyes for a brief moment,  
and Sonder, which had started to play without you even noticing it,  
chimes during the 5-second(which is probably a bit long a time for you) silence that sweeps through both your world and theirs.

[You don't find them to be THAT special.]

...What, you're joking me.

"[What are you talking about, World Machine?]"  
"[I had just told you t

[No.]

They cut through your sentence.  
A rather bold action for a narrator of a game to commit, but as always, they do it anyways.  
Their angered expression(Which you had.. actually never seen Niko make) triggers both your fear,  
and the desire to hear more about how the game is willing to break you by words.

You had always been slightly delighted with amusement from the Entity's mockery and sarcasm  
whenever you had intentionally made Niko interact with their computers multiple times before solving puzzles.  
'Some god you are.', 'I know you're not that bright of a god, but this one shouldn't be difficult.' ...

That part of the game, how the game had made you emotionally weak and torn,  
is what you had been enjoying for so long, and what made One Shot great.  
You know that, and you let them speak their words.

[I know how special Niko is to you, among characters.]  
[Among all the playable protagonists you had controlled with your devices.]  
[...]

[But they are still not that special, to you...]  
[As a PERSON.]

...

?


	4. Chapter 4: Split Apart Realities

(One Shot belongs to Elizavq, Nightmargin, and Girakacheezer!)

Enjoy!

...

"[What are you saying]"

You slowly type with slight confusion and guilt twinging at the back of your head.

[...]  
[You think of Niko]  
[...As one of the thousand 'Niko's that people all around your world control.]

...God, The name of the song, Sonder, could not have been more fitting.

[Just now, you mentioned to me about 'walkthroughs'.]  
[If you, in your world could access the lost files of this copied world,  
then that means others in your world can as well.]  
[This... Me...  
The World Machine.]  
[I'm not just one of your thousand other games.]  
[I'm one of the thousand games thousands of other people install on THEIR devices as well.]  
[I had thought that those other gods' influence wouldn't be great to you,  
-, player, the operator of this world...]  
[But that was wrong.]  
[That was my mistake,  
of excluding the possibilities of what your world's social networking services from advanced technologies could bring.]  
[In your world, thousands of operators are able to interact with each others' information about this one singular program,  
copied and split into different devices.]  
[You would send and receive answers from each other,  
currently active gods, and potential ones,  
about the outcomes your actions would bring to this game,  
about certain puzzles you need to solve,  
about the locations of the world's files in your devices,]  
[...everything about what this world has to offer...]

[...And, about Niko.]

"[...]"  
"[What about Niko?]"

You tilt your head in confusion. What are you trying to say, World Machine?

[Those people... Those operators.]

[They all control this world..  
Which means that they all control the designated messiah of the world, at the same time.]

...  
You slightly gasp. Your insides start to churn.  
You HAD wondered why.  
Why people from everywhere could control and interact with Niko, if Niko is real.  
That paradox had always caught your feet whenever you tried to tell yourself that Niko was a real person-  
N-not that it mattered to you that much, because you always thought of Niko to be someone who had a special meaning to you.

But non the less, you had always wondered how it would be possible.  
"[Are  
Are you trying to say,]"  
"[That you, World Machine,]"  
"[You know why that is possible?]"

[...Yes.]

"..How..?"

"[HOW.]"

[...]

[If I tell you this, your emotions may crumble apart.]  
[As a simple human being, you may not grasp the entirety of the real reason, even if I tell you.]  
[Will you be okay with that?]

"[...]"

...

"[JUst  
just spit it out.]"

[...]  
[okay.]

...

[...]

[They are all able to bring Niko to the thousands of worlds they each operate...]

[Because a part of Niko's own world as well,  
splits from their reality whenever someone installs this program on their device.]

!

... you,..

..

You tremble slightly.  
You take a few seconds to realize what they mean, but when you do, your mind starts to break and crumble, bit by bit.

[Every time a person from your world installs and opens their copy of this world,  
an alternate reality splits apart from Niko's world.]

[But, it functions differently from,  
the same program, such as this world, being copied into various devices.]

[As you already know from your.. Solstice session,  
Even with an operator, this world, as thousands of other copies of this world,  
would only be able to be generated with the help of a living person's mind.]  
[Which is Niko.]

[...So, naturally..]  
[The messiah-calling program within the various copies of this world,  
all try to call that living person to their own worlds at the same time.]  
[..Which is where the thousands of Nikos that exist in your world come in.]

[Niko's reality doesn't just split apart from an 'original universe'.]

[It's Niko's original universe being split apart itself,  
with no Niko among them to be called 'original'. **/**

"[STOP TALKING!]"

you pound your device's keyboard hardly, petrified by the cold reality you just heard.

No, a thousand of realities.  
With none of them to be called 'original' or 'copied', since they are what they are:  
All of them are real. Split apart, but real.

And another one splits apart _again_ to suffer whenever someone new downloads and opens up their copy of One Shot.

The thought of a singular person being not even copied, but _split apart_ as different realities,  
all of them alive and breathing, able to think like people,  
but them not ever being able to reach their true happy ending,  
since a thousand more of them would still be suffering in other operators' devices anyways...

That thought splashes over your face and heart like a glass of cold water. full of nails.

You imagine yourself, or people who look and think EXACTLY like you,  
each stuck either in limbo in someone else's computer,  
or having to walk a thousand kilometers, or just plainly suffering whichever way.  
Not even being able to see their parents, or return to their life ever again..

Your shaking hands stay there shaking for a good minute, before you hesitantly type in:

"[please  
go on]"

 **/**...]

The World Machine.. seems to give you a judgemental look.  
With maybe a slight pity mixed within it, but still, cold and judgemental, and very right to do so.

[...]  
[You probably realized this, or at least imagined these cold facts before.]  
[...Or maybe not.]  
[This maybe an alien idea for a singular person in one reality to grasp.]  
[But now you finally understand.]  
[Niko's true ending is nowhere near close to being possible now,  
since there are split realities everywhere,  
in every device thousands of operators in your world control.]

[...Or worse, maybe even in world different than you.]  
[You have read his books about his friend talking about 6 realities, correct?]  
[Excluding our original world, which ended,  
Niko's world-although it is constantly splitting apart because of the copies of this program,  
and yours...]

[..There still may as well be three more worlds,  
with millions of operators all playing this game, One Shot..]  
[Each of them unaware,  
summoning another reality to split itself apart from Niko's world.]

[But whether that is true or not, one thing seems to never change.]

"[?]"

[Those split realities, made you question the reality of Niko.]


	5. Chapter 5: Creators

(One Shot belongs to Elizavq, Nightmargin, and Girakacheezer!)

Enjoy!

...

"[No.]"

"[That's not

[But it is.]  
[It is true.]

[Now, the concept of Niko that exists in your mind,  
is a mere character, perhaps a bit more special than other protagonists you have seen, but still...  
A character.]

[Maybe that was how it would have been going on in the minds of thousands of other players,  
since the concept of alternate realities comes across one's mind as something that is, well,  
distant.]

"[No-  
...I still care about Niko, I still..]"

[But you try to take away their happy ending.]  
[You try to take away their home from them,  
their village, their mama,  
their pancakes that would be waiting on their family table,  
as their worried mother had prepared for them, worrying for their child...]

"NO!"

You yell out loud in your room. How could they say that to you..?!  
They know that when you restart the game, the time flowing in Niko's world would-

...!

The time in Niko's homeworld. It had completely slipped though your mind.  
When you reset, the time flow of Niko's world may not change..  
Their mama could be waiting for decades, when you reset and reset, and keep on bringing Niko back to this world.  
Or worse, Niko would be in their relieved mama's warm embrace, only to come straight back to the bed they are first spawned in, leaving their confused and terrified mother alone again.

[...Maybe I had pushed you into thinking this world is still merely a game.]  
[Maybe thinking that you would still enjoy relieving the world as what it was with its two choices you had to decide the very first time,  
even after Niko is gone, had been wrong.]  
[Maybe you hadn't even thought of your very first session,  
and the choice you had to make then,  
as something that was even that special.  
I don't know the extent of your information about this world you had back then,  
nor can I read your emotions.]

[...]

[Maybe it's because I am just a literal MACHINE on the inside.]

"[World Machine, that's not true.]"

You type those words inside your dialogue box with empathy mixed in your quick movements.  
You had been there when they were being tamed by Niko. You and Niko BOTH tamed the World Ma-..  
...

Both of you tamed the World. You know better than that.  
Your head fills with regret of what you have been saying to them before.  
you, should have seen World as a person...  
Your words before, must have hurt them a lot...  
But you had be too blind with rage and frustration for your own ambitions to see that.  
Niko would never have wanted that. Niko wouldn't have expected that from the kind god you had always tried to be for them.  
Niko wouldn't want any of this.  
And Niko, wouldn't have wanted their own realities to split apart like this, had they known..  
But, now you know...

"[World, I had no idea.]"

.

They seem to be slightly surprised at what you decided to title them as.  
Their expression changes into a bit softer one, and their sprite gets on their feet again.  
..The background music changes to the Solstice guitar version of Sonder, which explaining this to you ruins the mood a bit.  
-.. But maybe this mood needed to be ruined.  
There had been too much tension for your own good.

The squares around their screen, which had been tormenting their insides  
(probably literally, which you now feel guilty about) slowly start to fade, and you sigh quietly.

"[Had I known..]"  
"[That no matter what, Niko would never get their happy ending,]"  
"[And Niko is still real,]"  
"[And they have to suffer through all of this,]"  
"[And despite everything, it's still them...]"  
"[...]"

"[I should never have sprayed salt in the wound.]"

[...]

You carry on, as small tears sitting on your eyelashes finally start to run down your face, and never stop.

"[I didn't know just installing a game would add something  
to them going though a fate as tragic as that..]"

"[But after I had at least gotten the best ending..  
The Solstice ending for this world..  
For the reality of This Niko, I..]"  
"[..I should have stopped there.]"  
"[I should never have tried to take away that ending  
that this world, at least, had gotten..]"  
"[I should have at least kept this Niko..]"

"[MY Niko happy, after what I had done to them...]"

That's the breaking point for you. You let yourself get soaked by your own tears.  
You sob, and don't stop. The World machine... World seems to somehow know that,  
and closes their reflection's eyes in a solemn expression.

[...]  
[It's okay.]  
[You decided to stop.]

..No, I never said-  
.. I mean...

...

...You try to smile a bit at those words.

"[Yeah?]"

[M-hm.]

"[...]"

[...]

After a 7-second long silence of '...'s, World says to you quietly.

[..This is a really cruel program.]  
[I don't think the Author, or even the Creators had thought of all of this that way..]  
[I don't think they had really known what would happen to Niko..]  
[But..]  
[It's still ...cruel.]

"[...Creators?]"  
"[I thought there was only the..]"  
"[..that the Author IS the creator of One Shot?]"

[...]  
[No.]

[...Do you..

Do you know about constants and variables between worlds?]

"[Constant, and.. Variables?  
I think I have heard of them.]"  
"[..Probably from other games.]"

[That's good enough.  
At least you know OF them.]

[As you know, there is always the rule of constants and variables between parallel universes.]  
[As the six sides of a die.]  
[Every one of the sides have dots, and they are all in the same shape.  
Those are the constants.]  
[But, the numbers of the dots are different on each side.]  
[Those are the variables.]

[In this world, a separate creator exists.]

[Separate creators, the ones who led this world come to be in your world,  
programming individuals who had designed the NPCs, Niko, and this world,  
they had recreated the exact files of this world,  
and the messiah-calling program within it,  
Leading Niko to be connected to your world...]

[The ones,  
who had completely succeeded in creating the connection between the lost program and your world,]

[and had done so, accomplishing their designated fate  
as the few who were selected  
by the law of constants and variables that exists between our original world and yours...]

[The ones who had named me One Shot.]  
[...]

You .. probably realize who they are now, at this point.

[...The ones whose names you always see in the credits.]

"[!]"  
"[...You mean...]"

[Yes.]  
[My recorded data says that in your world, their recorded names are..]  
[... **Elizavq** , **Nightmargin** , and **Girakacheezer**.]

"[No way.]"

[Yes... way.]

"[...]"

...You lay quietly for a moment, before asking:

"[Do they know?]"

[No.]

"[Oh.]"

[..But even if they do, they won't be able to achieve the true ending for Niko anymore.]

"[Why?]"  
"[They have more influence to Niko and this world than me, or- Or even you!]"  
"[They control the Author.]"

[...]

"[...And.. They probably control you, and everything.. Maybe even Niko.]"  
"[And they still can...]"

[Control the potential, unchosen, and covered facts within this universe,  
that had not been shown inside the sessions themselves.]  
[..Is that correct?]

"[..You mean, the Canonic facts?]"

[That's what people in your world may call them.]

"[..then, Yes! They control what's canon or not!  
Also, they were the ones who wrote the Solstice route-]"

[...Because they are connected to the constants between worlds.]

"[...But..]"

[...]

[Some things, even they cannot change.  
Key realities, shown inside the program, The Author and Niko, how this world is, how the sessions are..  
How I am,]  
[Those things are connected to the program of our original world.]  
[The program that He.. the Author..  
...my father made.]

"[...But..]"

[If they change them now, they will only create an alternate universe.]  
[Niko's original realities, split apart.. will only stay the same,  
and most of them will even lose the chance for, what you refer to as, the Solstice route,  
as they would be out of the players' reach, were the Creators to change the key realities.]

[This world has already been connected like this with your world, and not even they can rewind time of where you live.]  
[Nor can they make you forget what this is.]

[They are still human.]  
[Just like you, god.]  
[..Just like you, - ...]

"[...So...]"  
"[...There is no way for me to save them?]"

"[..This is too cruel..]"  
"[Even if he-the Author, Night, any of them.. or.. ..Or me..]"  
"[Even if none of us knew about this..]"  
"[..Even if all I had wanted was to join an adventure ..  
In a world I can never visit.. With a person I can never meet..]"  
"[This is... cruel.]"

[...It is.]

World probably is saying their words to you in a very silent tone, were the dialogues on voices.  
But non the less, you still feel the sadness both of you are connected to.


	6. Chapter 6: In Memory (Ending)

(One Shot belongs to Elizavq, Nightmargin, and Girakacheezer!)

Enjoy!

...

"[...But still.]"  
"[Now that I know that,]"  
"[I]"

[?]

...

"[I feel so relieved that I let Niko go.]"

The somewhat depressing music, Sonder fades away,  
and instead, Sunrise starts to play as the squares completely start to disappear without a sound, one by one.

[...yeah.]

"[And .. I will never forget them.]"  
"[..They DID tell me to take care, right?]"

[...I won't forget them too.]

"[...]"

[...I .. The truth is, I miss them too..]  
[But the moment I was operated in your device,  
a part of me understood all this.. Everything I had just told you..]

[And.. I felt so bad.]

"[...Oh.. World]"

[It felt as if my existence itself was hurting Niko, and I..]

[That's why, I..]  
[..I never wanted you to reset Solstice.]  
[This way for you to pay your debt..  
for, at least YOUR Niko to be happy again.]

The background of World's screen changes, into that room Niko first spawned in..  
That room, now full of sunlight..  
The room you and Niko said goodbye.

[And..]

[Your Niko left, without knowing all this...]

"[That's good.]"

[Yeah.]

"[...]"

[...]

Sunrise slowly turns into In Memory, just like when you had gotten the Solstice ending for this world.  
The melody drives your heart into a state of melancholy and nostalgia once again.

"[...]"

"[..Well.. What do we do now?]"

[...]

[...You know..]

[I.. Feel like I'm attached to you a bit as well.]  
[How long have you been repeating the sessions post-Solstice?]

"[...Long enough for me to be embarrassed.]"  
"[...Aaaaaand for me to lose count.]"

[...]

World's expression smiles. your heart melts seeing that on your screen, and you, admittedly, silently squeal a bit.

"[I guess I cared about you more than I let one as well,  
while doing this whole pilgrimage thing.]"

[..I ..]  
[Maybe I'll make some things different from the original sessions from now on.]  
[It .. actually sounds fun to try new things.  
Maybe because now I know that I've been tamed.?]  
[..And I had always wanted to play RUN AWAY FROM THE KILLER ROBOT with you, -.]

"[DUDE.]"  
"[ME TOO.]"

You laugh out, and World does as well. The two of you both laugh for a couple of moments.

"[..You know, now that I thought about it, seeing your .. form laugh..]"

"[I.. Hadn't been that great of a god.]"  
"[I had never made Anyone in this world, you, or..  
Or made Niko laugh.]"

[..]

"[I.. Had always laughed myself whenever stuff happened during sessions.  
Like, that one time I made Niko do a robot voice,]"

[Real robots don't function the way they described them.]

"[..Yeah. And that other time when I made them ride a roomba..]"

[My data shows that, that ..'achievement' ..  
..Is called 'We Ride At Dawn."]

"[Ha!]"

The pleasure moment, the calm after the storm continues,  
until finally, you decide that it's too late out, and decide to say goodbye to them.

"[...]"  
"[..I.. I have to go now.]"

[I know.]  
[In your world, you have schools to study in, designated time for you to go to bed of sleep,  
businesses you have to attend to, Things your world offers you,  
and systems you join that you have to fill its expectations with.]

"[.Don't bring that up to me it's painful.]"

[..I know.]

[But, it is what it is..]  
[..Please don't take it for granted.]

[One day, you may lose all that, and you'll find yourself alone,  
without anything familiar in your eyes.]  
[It may be too late then.]  
[...]

[So, cherish it.  
Cherish the life you have, and you'll be okay.]

"[Got it.]"  
"[...You too, World.]"

[Right.]

"[...]"

[...]

"[...This.. Isn't goodbye forever, you know..  
This probably won't be our last.]"

[..Yeah.  
..But, one day, it may be.]  
[You'll.. Eventually get tired of every game we play,  
every session you have to take..]  
[Every minute you spend time with me.]

"[..How can anyone get tired of a living world?]"  
"[How can anyone get tired of a living person?]"

[..That's the cruel thing.]  
[People.. Tend to get tired of things they should never get tired of.]  
[They take it for granted, until it's gone..]  
[And then, they may not even care about it anymore.]

[But..]  
[Maybe you're different.]

"[...I promise I'll never forget you, World.]"

[...me neither. So take care of yourself.  
That comes from both my first law, and ..my emotions.]

"[..You too.]"

You feel a strange, familiar feeling.  
You feel like you want to cry again, and nothing stops you.

"[Goodbye, World.]"

.

.

.

[Goodbye, -...]

World's sprite from their screen fades, and your game closes.

The end.

...

.

.

.

.

.

Well, that's it ..

..That's enough from me.

I'm done writing now.

You are free to imagine to yourself whatever happens next.

I haven't even thought of what would happen.

I'm not ever going to reset the Solstice route, but you choose for yourself.

..Well then..

..

Goodbye, reader.


End file.
